Inside Scoop: Inside Scoop: Rumored delays for 2013 Apple products

Inside Scoop: Inside Scoop: Rumored delays for 2013 Apple products

3:34 /
April 11, 2013

In this Inside Scoop, CNET's Kara Tsuboi and Josh Lowensohn discuss recent rumors that the newest crop of Apple products might be behind schedule. Hear about the new fingerprint-detection feature that's delaying the next-generation iPhone and when you could be streaming tunes from your Apple Radio.

-Hey, everyone.
Welcome to the Inside Scoop.
I'm CNET's Kara Tsuboi joined by Senior Editor Josh Lowensohn and, Josh, it's a new year so we know there's got to be a new iPhone coming out.
The question is when.
And a report just surfaced today saying that might be a little later in the year than expected.
Tell us why, at least according to this analyst.
-Sure.
So the big rumor is from KGI Securities.
It's from an analyst.
It has a pretty good track record of successful rumors.
-Right.
-So the big one today is that there's been a
delay, possibly putting this scene to the fall into the summer, and the reason is because Apple is reportedly working on some sort of fingerprint scanning technology that's been kind of hard.
This would be something that's in the home button and maybe scans your finger and apparently it's really hard to get it to work with the way they coat the paint.
-Sure, sure.
Instead of typing in your code every time you wanna get into your phone.
-Sure.
I mean there's lots of applications.
Also Apple has something called Passbook which is kind of right now it's used for like membership cards.
but in theory it could be used for credit
cards or some other sort of payment system, so it makes sense why they would need your fingerprint for it.
-In the same report, the analyst also detailed a couple of other Apple products and why they might be delayed.
Talk to us about the new cheaper version of the iPhone.
-Yes.
This is a rumor that's been kind of floating around for a couple of months now, even longer than that.
The idea is that maybe they wouldn't use glass or metal and would instead use plastic which, you know, they used to use before, but this would theoretically sit behind their flagship iPhone to be cheaper.
This is for places like China or India where there's lot of potential buyers who wanna pay less for the phone.
-Interesting.
And then also in the report were details on an iPad mini and the delays there.
-Yes.
You know the iPad mini is really missing a retina display.
This is something that you find in all the rest of Apple's portable devices, but it's really tough to get it in that small size.
We know panels have been floating around since November, but it's kind of been delayed and that's what the new report said today, that it's really hard to kind of get the production level that they
have with the screen they're using now for this next device.
-And again all of these are just rumors, just speculation floating around out there.
-Yes.
-What are some other products that have been talked about as far as a release in 2013?
-Sure.
The 2 big ones that were supposed to come was the television and a radio station.
The one that we know is very close is a radio service.
This is a free service that people are gonna be able to listen to.
It'll be ad supported.
They'll have it on their devices.
We've heard labels around the cusp of making a deal with
Apple--
-Okay.
-Possibly as soon as next week.
-So that announcement might come in the coming months.
Do you think they'll wait until quarter 3, quarter 4?
-I can see them waiting, but at the same time if they're getting this already, we can assume that they have the software ready.
They're just waiting for the deals to get done before they launch it.
And that's something that I think they could do without like a new iPod or a new iPad, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.
As for the TV, that was supposed to come out in 2012, didn't happen; now it's 2013, I don't think they're ready with that either.
There's been a
lot of rumors that they're still kind of working with panel makers, and the panel makers have already kind of got their orders set aside for the rest of the year.
-Yes.
-But there's just some crazy stuff going on like reports of using a ring to control it and a tablet too.
It's like none of that really jives well with what we know about how Apple works.
They want simplicity, and if it's something that requires 2 different devices, that's just kind of crazy.
-Yes.
So take your time, Apple.
Figure it out and come to us when you're ready.
-Totally.
-Great.
Thank you so much, Josh Lowensohn.
I'm Kara Tsuboi.
Thanks for watching the Inside Scoop.